Christmas Eve(:

The huntsman's shed wasn't much, but it felt like heaven inside compared to the blistering cold and howling wind. There was even a fireplace and several wool blankets resting on the hearth. The huntsman tucked them all around me, as I sank down on a pile of thatch in the corner. 

"Will you be alright out here if I go inside?" He asked politely. I could see worry etched into the small lines on his face. He was thinking of the house he had worked so hard to keep nice and the rowdy noises which came from inside it. I felt an immense frustration blooming inside me, as the pain and the cold began to fall away and my mind cleared up. If things were different I could have found a way to help him manage Jesse and his ruffians and repay all the kindness the huntsman had shown me. 

"I'll be fine. Thank you for the shelter." I said. "I'll only trouble you for a few days more, once the storm has passed. Then I'll be off. I promise." 

"Alright." He said nodding. I had half hoped that he would ask me to stay, or at least look surprised that I was leaving. Maybe he sensed that I would bring trouble on him. But I didn't want to do that, so I knew I had to go. 

"Where will you go?" He asked me, pulling off the hood of his cloak. "If you don't mind my asking." 

I shivered, feeling slow warmth flood my body as the fire crackled and twirled. 

"North, I suppose. My hope is to procure passage on a boat and sail across the sea." 

"Why?" He murmured, kneeling to add more wood to the fire.

"A new start." 

"What are you running from?" 

"Running?" I looked up sharply. "Why would you think that?" 

"Because when I found you in the woods you were lost, but you still kept going forward. There are only two options for being lost, at least in my experience. One: you stop and ask for directions until you know where you are again. Two: you keep going, hoping to find a place that suits you. Most people don't choose the second unless they're running away from something, because then it doesn't matter where you're going, as long as you're going somewhere far away from the place you left." 

I studied him in silence. A few wisps of golden hair fell across his face. Unseeing eyes stared vaguely at the wall. The reflection of dancing flames glowed within them. His face was serious but softer than it had seemed the first time I met him. 

"How do you know all that?" I questioned slowly. 

The huntsman smiled, standing. "You're not the first visitor to pass by my cabin." He opened the door. "I'll be back soon."